Wednesday, November 21, 2012

One by one, they arrive

Our girl is home! She arrived by bus last night and asked her brother to pick her up from the station. We all went to meet her and got royally snarled in Lincoln tunnel traffic while she waited on a street corner outside Papaya King juice bar on 42nd and Ninth for almost an hour.  I got more and more riled up at the gridlock while my son (who was not driving) deejayed music from his iPhone and tried to get me to just be in the moment as he and his sister exchanged wildly outrageous off-color texts—which they later shared with me. Then when we finally got to the corner our college girl threw her bags in the car and jumped in quickly while we held up honking traffic. By then her brother and I were arguing about whether I was going to the gym with him when we got home, he was insisting, bulldozing, really, which always makes me resist, and we went back and forth, the two of us so much the same, while my husband and daughter rolled their eyes and shook their heads and laughed and stayed out of it altogether until my son said, "Okay, don't go to the gym for you! Go for me. Because if you don't you're going to eventually be in a wheelchair and then I will really be able to push you around." He was going for humor, but I heard him, and so I stopped resisting and said, "Okay, we'll go to the gym."

When we got home my girl and her dad settled in to watch the Knicks game while I laced up my new sneakers. My son was wonderful. That cranky boy became so gentle with me, guiding my workout, pushing me to do one more set, ten more minutes, talking with me about his life the whole time, which will always take my mind off the pain of working out, and I did a half hour on the treadmill and the bike and then did some weight machines and I love being able to mindlessly just follow instructions, to not have to figure out the machines because he figured them out for me and assessed the right weight, and of course, he also showed how to use them for when he goes back to school. I do like lifting weights. I enjoy it so much more than cardio. I think my boy was pleasantly surprised by how cooperative I was once we got to the gym, and how capably I followed instructions and he was also quite pleased that my resting heart rate is actually quite good, much better than he had feared, and I'm strong and stubborn when it comes to the weights too. He can be awfully bossy, this boy (where, oh where did he learn that?) but also so very tender and able to make you feel cared for and taken care of and loved.

So it's the four of us, together again. Talking, laughing, being us. So comfortable and right. Both kids remarked on it, as if was something special to each of them. But we also remarked on how much we missed my niece Leisa, who is doing her masters in Florida and not able to travel, and how it just won't be the same without her this year.

Early this morning there were more arrivals. At 6:00 a.m. my cousin from Trinidad rang the doorbell. And this afternoon, my other cousin and her two daughters will arrive from Maryland, and we'll sleep everywhere in this house, on every bed and every couch, and tomorrow, more family and friends will join s and we will have a party. Actually the party starts tonight with the shopping and the food preparation and the stories. Always, there are the stories. And on Friday some college friends of my son's will arrive for the weekend, and my daughter will be catching up with her friends who have all arrived back in the city, and no doubt her young man will also be in the mix, and it will be nice to see him, too, and hopefully we'll get to watch a Knicks game with him, like old times. Happy thanksgiving, y'all.




17 comments:

  1. lovely, lovely..thank you so much for this invitation to peek into your windows, with the family arriving home....have a joyful, laughter-filled Thanksgiving! and, arent you the wild thing--lifting weights!!

    xoxox

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  2. Oh, Child. My house is in complete chaos right now. Owen is naked and running around and every room is destroyed and the party starts in six hours but it's okay because Aunt and Uncle just got here and the house is completely destroyed- forget party-ready but it'll be okay. It'll all be okay.
    Oh honey. Oh sweetie. It is the best of times, isn't it? And isn't it tiring?

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    1. Dear Mary, I want you to know the image of Owen running naked through your house and every room destroyed kept me calm and focused on the right and good things this year! An orderly house is overrated! Who's focused on order anyway when there is so much love.

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  3. Happy Thanksgiving. I am so jealous you get some time to enjoy yourselves at this time of the year. Here, we are all pushing ourselves to get to the Christmas break and feeling down in the dumps with all the gloomy weather and nothing to lift our souls. I shall thanksgive, remotely and hope to cathc some of the happiness.

    The good news is that my gym coach said that weights IS cardio. It makes you burn tons of energy and keeps your metabolism lifted for hours longer than the bike or treadmill!

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    1. Annicles, i shall channel your gym coach, then! Happy thanksgiving!

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  4. Oh Angella, you went to the gym, that is just so excitingly wonderful. Yay for you! YAY. I know it was hard. Yay also for your son the bulldozer.

    I know you and your wonderful family will have a Thanksgiving filled with good food and love, and I look forward to seeing the pics, if you aren't too wrapped up in the joy to take a few. :)

    Happy Thanksgiving, my friend!

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    1. ellen, my son the bulldozer is quite accurate! Happy thanksgiving, dear friend.

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  5. Such a beautiful girl. You must be beside yourself with pure pride and delight. Have fun!

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    1. Nancy, she is pure joy. Thank you. Hope you had a good Thanksgiving!

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  6. Your thanksgiving sounds like what dreams are made of! Also,good for you for going to the gym. If we lived in the same neighborhood, I'd ask to join you, so I'd be motivated. It's not about losing weight, it's about health. My overweight cousin has been doing soft yoga, running and swimming at least three times a week for ten years. She's my size, but I can see how much healthier than me she is. Keep it up!

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    1. Thanks for the encouragement, Miss A. And I was thinking about you on this, your first thanksgiving as a married woman. Hope it was all things happy. Hugs.

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  7. I send you wishes for an exceedingly happy Thanksgiving. Look around you and count your blessings!

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    1. Glenn, dear friend, i did as you suggest, i looked around me and counted my blessings and breathed in and out so that i wouldn't get overwhelmed by them, as i sometimes do. Hope you had a good day, too. xo

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  8. i miss you all toooo!!!!!! soooo much *hugs***

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    1. Darling niece, who knew that your tiny person takes up such a large space? The absence of you was huge! Let's start planning now for next year! Hope you had a wonderful day where you were. Love to everyone.

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  9. I'm so envious that your son is coaching you through workouts! I often say that if only I had a personal trainer -- excuses, excuses, right? In any case, I'm with you on the weights and cardio -- I love doing the weights and despise cardio. You're inspiring me to get my bottom moving --

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